You Never Listen
by Sardixiis
Summary: When a troublesome witness doesn't listen to Mary's advice, things wind up a little explosive. When Mary doesn't listen to Marshall's advice, things wind up a little musical. Overall, Mary just winds up angry.
1. Chapter 1

**You Never Listen**

Chapter One

"I'm right; you're wrong. That is why I sing this song. I'm right, you fool. I win, you drool."

Marshall's singing grated on Mary's nerves. She hated hearing the song, except when she was the one doing the singing. This time the hate was for multiple reasons. For one, she'd lost, which was bad enough. More importantly, she hurt. A lot. The reason for that was what had started this whole mess.

- - Two Days Ago - -

Cody Parkins was one of those witnesses Mary knew would eventually cause trouble. She'd known it the instant he'd shown up at the Albuquerque office a little over a week ago. It wasn't that he was dangerous or likely to continue previous criminal activity. Cody wasn't a criminal. Not really. He just liked talking to and helping out the wrong people. The guy was too dumb to realize kindness and common sense needed to work together.

His attempt at kindness had turned sour when the mob boss he'd been "helping" was arrested. Cody had agreed to testify, which, of course, had pissed off the mob. While it had only been a minor mob boss, he'd been important enough to get Cody a trip into WitSec. If only WitSec was a cure for stupidity. Cody was a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later he'd find another "wrong " person to talk to and wind up in a load of trouble he couldn't afford. The mob boss had been hint enough, and Mary had called it on day one. She was constantly checking on Cody, just waiting for the inevitable to come.

"How much would I have to give you to be the one to check on Cody?" Mary pleaded from her spot at her desk.

"He's not that bad you know," her partner, Marshall, replied.

Mary perked up immediately, sensing an opportunity. She could use this to her advantage. Perhaps she actually would be able to get out of going.

"Perfect, then you won't mind checking in on him."

Marshall glanced over and gave her an all to self-satisfied smile. Mary's hopes were dashed on the rocks almost immediately. She knew that look well enough, and she hated seeing it every time. The answer was clear even if Marshall hadn't spoken a single word.

"Come on. Why not?" she demanded, whining just a little bit.

"One because he's your witness, and two because I have a threat assessment on one of mine not including a new witness that should arrive in an hour or so."

Mary groaned and dropped her head down on her desk. With that much going on there was no way she could convince Marshall to switch with her. Damn it. Grabbing her keys, Mary headed for the elevator. She couldn't help shooting Marshall a glare as she passed though. He just smiled warmly at her in response.

"Have fun."

"I hope your new witness sucks."

0~0~0~0

It wasn't that Mary disliked Cody Parkins. She just spent so much time checking in on him that she didn't have time for much else. If she thought Cody actually had a chance to wise up and walk the straight and narrow, it wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, Cody talking to the wrong people was on the same level as Brandi screwing up or doing something stupid. Not a question of if but when. Inevitable. Just a matter of time. Mary could go on. In other words, it was a big headache waiting to happen. If, of course, the waiting didn't give her a headache first.

Mary parked outside Cody's apartment and headed up. She wasn't worried about him being out since they'd planned this meeting. So far he hadn't managed to find a full time job either, so he was around during the day most of the time. Mary didn't consider that such a good thing since it offered plenty of time for him to get into trouble. A job was the second reason for her visit. Since the sooner he was employed during the day the better, Mary had scoured the city for appropriate employment. Cody just had to pick one and they were good to go.

When she reached Cody's floor, Mary banged hard on his door and waited for an answer. A moment later it was swinging open to reveal a smiling Cody.

"Mary! It's good to see you! Come in."

He ushered her inside and closed the door. Cody was a generally average guy though more tall and lean than well built. While quick to anger if provoked, he couldn't do much damage to anyone. Physical fighting wasn't his thing. He tended to work in the background and offer support, though that didn't mean he didn't have a major stubborn streak and a need to assert and promote his own opinions. Thankfully Mary had managed to put him in his place pretty quickly upon arrival and hadn't had any major blow ups since.

"You seem to be settling in just fine," Mary said as she glanced around.

"Albuquerque is a nice place, and I'm grateful for the apartment."

At least he wasn't being the usual pain in the ass that witnesses could be about moving. Most threw a fit about relocation. Cody had taken everything in stride. With anyone else, that might have made Mary nervous, but she had no reason to be with Cody. He didn't have any connections or illegal businesses he was trying to restart in a new place.

"Good. Then all you have to do is pick a job and you'll be a full-fledged citizen of Albuquerque," Mary told him as she handed over her list of possibilities.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"You didn't give me anything specific, so there's a variety. Grocery clerks, janitor, you mentioned you'd worked construction before so there's that and a yard guy. I'm sure you'll find something even if it's just temporary."

Cody continued to nod as he looked over the list.

"This should work. Thanks, Mary."

"Good. So I can expect you to have a job by the end of the week? And inform me of where it is?"

Mary raised an eyebrow, hoping she would receive a good answer. Not like she would take no for an answer anyway. If she had to argue with him, she would. It was just easier if she didn't need to.

"Yes, yes," he answered distractedly.

"Hey!" She waited until he looked up at her. "A real answer, idiot."

"Yes, I'll have a job by the end of the week, and I'll let you know where it is."

"Good, you better."

Mary moved to stand up but paused before she reached the door. Knowing what Cody was like, she was going to hit him with the same warning. If it was the tenth time, she didn't care. She'd say it a hundred times if it had the chance of sinking through his thick skull. Not likely, but for now she would keep trying.

"Any new friends?"

She left out the "that you shouldn't be making" since he would deny that even if she asked.

"Just one."

There was a slight hesitation in his answer that made Mary narrow her eyes. She wanted to start pulling her hair out already.

* * *

Author's Note: Here's my first step into the world of In Plain Sight fanfiction. Seriously, this show majorly got its claws into me right before the series ended. For those of you who read my other things, please stop by my profile page to check out a poll up about Nightmare Man.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Here it comes," Mary grumbled in exasperation.

Still, there was a possibility that this new friend wasn't bad. It could be a normal guy that wouldn't drag Cody into trouble. Maybe this friend was even going to be a good influence. Who was she kidding? This was Cody Parkins. There was no way in hell this new friend was anything besides trouble.

Cody didn't seem to be thinking along the same line as Mary, not like he ever did.

"What? Mary, there's nothing wrong with me having a friend!"

"No, there's not, as long as you pick a good friend, which you have a tendency _not to do_. What's this friend like? Where did you meet?"

Mary was really hoping for an answer like "In a coffee shop" or "He lives in this building." Chances were she wasn't going to get that type of answer. She wasn't disappointed.

"We met when I was walking home. He's an average guy, and we just talked for a little while."

Ever suspicious, Mary prodded for more information. It couldn't be that simple.

"Where on your way home?"

"In an alley."

Oh God. He couldn't be serious! She closed her eyes for a moment in hopes of not exploding on him. Patience wasn't one of Mary's strong points though. She rarely, if ever, even bothered to try using any. Why postpone the inevitable?

"And you thought this was a good guy to hang out with? What could have possibly given you that idea?"

Cody looked at her like she was being rather unreasonable. He didn't see anything wrong with his friend, and Mary shouldn't either.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't he be? Really, Mary, you worry too much."

Mary resisted the urge to strangle Cody. Barely. Instead she got right in his face to drive her point home.

"Newsflash, Numbnuts. If you have to meet a guy in an alley you probably shouldn't be meeting him at all."

"He could have just been walking down the alley to get somewhere faster."

Ugh! Stupid, idiot! There had to be a wall somewhere nearby for Mary to bang her head against, though maybe it was good that there wasn't. It would prevent her from ending up bloody considering the size of the beating to her head it would require to deal with Cody.

"Was it empty?"

"Yes."

"Then he wasn't just walking down it!" she told him in exasperation. "No more alleys. No more talking to guys who hang out in alleys. Understood?"

"Okay, okay. I get it."

"So I'll never see you talking to this guy again? I'll never even hear rumor of it?"

"No."

That still wasn't good enough for Mary. She had to make her point even clearer.

"I'll never even _remotely think_ you are in any way still associating with him? Not even walking down an alley?"

"No, Mary. If you don't want me talking to him anymore I won't, but I still think you're overreacting."

Mary shot him a dark look. He didn't get it, and she wasn't sure how much clearer she could make it. Apparently crystal wasn't clear enough for him. What was she supposed to make it? Glass after it was sprayed with Windex? Not that she would mind him running head long into it like those crows did on the commercials. It might actually sink in then.

"Cody, let me make this utterly transparent for you. You're in WitSec because of a guy like him. If you get involved with another guy like him, you'll be out of the program. That means you'll be as good as dead. Get it?"

Cody held his hands up in surrender, hoping to placate Mary.

"Okay, I get it. I'm done."

"You better be," she shot back before heading for the door.

0~0~0~0

The ding of the elevator followed by the telltale sound of the swipe card at the door told Marshall that Mary was back. Keeping his eyes on his work, he called out to her automatically.

"How was the visit to Cody?"

When he finished his sentence and glanced up at her he realized he'd just stepped in it big time. One look at Mary told him she was furious. With a disgusted expression she stomped over to her desk and threw her bag down. Then she turned her burning glare on Marshall.

"Tell me, please, why men are such idiots. You would never have a woman that stupid. Okay, so you would never have _many_ women that stupid. I'll admit there are some out there. Unless this is just a witness thing, which is fully possible. I mean, I've seen a lot of morons more than one crayon short of the box in the program. Some of them only have one crayon in the box, and trust me, it's a dull one. Like gray or something."

Marshall smartly kept his mouth shut. Mary obviously needed to rant, and he would give her that opportunity.

"You would think there would be at least an ounce of common sense in his stupid little head. Honestly! How is he still in one piece? Check that. How is he not in prison or dead? It's got to be a god damn miracle."

Just when Marshall thought she was done, Mary started up again.

"And what's worse, our moronic witness has some magnetic attraction to troublesome people. Not enough brains to avoid them either. If these guys don't kill him, I will. Jesus!"

"What'd he do, Mare?"

"What do you think, Doofus? He found a replacement friend for the one that put him here, and he's too airheaded to see it."

Marshall moved around his desk to lean on the edge of Mary's.

"Have you ever considered maybe helping him find the right friend?"

Mary stared at him incredulously. She couldn't believe what he was saying.

"You want me to help him make a nice, new friend? Come on, Marshall, this isn't kindergarten. Plus, I don't even make friends!"

That was Mary. Marshall grinned and couldn't help throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"If you say so. You sure he's done?"

"How can I be? Knowing my luck he's probably already found a replacement for the replacement."

"Then you'll keep on him about it. It's your specialty."

"Great. Just what I want, to be a full time babysitter."

Mary dropped down into her chair in frustration. After a moment she was digging through her desk drawers, desperately searching for something. Grinning, Marshall headed to his desk and pulled open a drawer. When he returned to Mary he dropped a chocolate bar on the desk by her elbow before turning away. He always kept one in his desk for circumstances just like this.

"God, I love you. Remind me that next time I want to kill you," Mary told him as she snatched up the chocolate and tore into it.

Marshall grinned and turned his face away so she wouldn't notice. He'd heard that before and knew it really wouldn't do much good later. She'd just say she hadn't been thinking straight. Either way though, it was nice to hear that she cared out loud.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

- - One Day Ago - -

When Mary's phone began ringing again she nearly dropped her head onto her steering wheel. Instead she settled for a loud groan. It had been one of those days when her phone was constantly ringing. Frantic witnesses, witness requests, Brandi needing help, Brandi calling back to say she didn't need help just advice. Mary had dealt with it all. One more thing was one too many, but a quick glance at the caller ID eased her irritation a bit.

"What, Marshall?"

"_Just checking to make sure you're alive."_

"Of course I'm alive," Mary growled. "Why the hell would I not be alive?"

Marshall picked up on her irritation and immediately changed tactics.

"_Apparently you've had a rough morning, so I'm going to ask a more important question than the first one. Is everyone else alive?"_

"Jesus, Marshall. I didn't kill anyone and you know if someone had died you would know about it."

"_So what's taken so long then?" _Marshall asked hesitantly.

"Just a minor meltdown with a witness. It's fine now."

"_Uh huh."_

The sound of that meant something more. Mary knew it, and she was going to call him out on it.

"Uh huh, what? Come on, Marshall, I know you're thinking something. Spit it out."

"_Is that all you were doing?"_

Mary rolled her eyes and immediately tried to sidetrack him. If Marshall found out what else she'd been doing that morning instead of getting right in to work on her massive stack of assignments he would throw a fit. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with that right now. Of course she was probably already busted.

"I had to deal with Brandi too, not that that's too big of a surprise."

"_Mmhmm. And you didn't, I don't know, decide to stop to get something? Something like pie maybe?"_

"What? I was hungry, and it was on the way back. What's the big deal?"

"_The big deal is that you have a mountain of paperwork sitting on your desk which you are trying to avoid. While most of your methods of avoidance are for legitimate business, you're probably still trying to stay out longer in hope that I will take pity on you and do some of your paperwork."_

While Mary listened to Marshall's tirade she continued on toward the Sunshine Building. It was only thanks to the fact that she was purposefully tuning Marshall out that she saw him. Mary slammed on her breaks and backed up until she was even with the alley again. She had to be positive of what she had seen. Sure enough, there he was. Cody Parkins. In an alley. Talking to some low life.

"**Idiot!"**

"_What did I do or say to displease you this time?"_

"What?" Mary asked as she tried to transition between what she'd just seen and her conversation with Marshall. "Not you, Numbnuts. Cody. He's in an alley talking to someone. I told the idiot I never wanted to hear even a hint of him doing anything vaguely alley related again. Damn it! Your answer to that second question might be changing pretty soon. I have to go."

"_Mary, you -"_

She hung up when he was mid-sentence and parked her car, not that she needed to hear the rest of it since she knew it would end in "can't kill somebody." After grabbing her gun and tucking it into her waistband just in case, she got out and strode purposefully toward Cody. He was going to really wish he hadn't lied to her.

As Mary got closer she noticed the look on Cody's friend's face darkening. Either he'd spotted her and didn't want to be interrupted or Cody had said something he didn't like. No matter what the real reason was, it wasn't good. Growling to herself, Mary picked up the pace a little bit. Had she believed in anyone or anything of a divine nature she would have been praying right then that Cody wouldn't do something that could get them both killed. When she was only a few feet away she called out to Cody.

"Hey, Cody! Long time. What have you been up to?"

Mary waved and kept a warm smile on her face in hopes of making the sudden meeting seem not so suspicious. Not that she cared what Cody thought. She just didn't want his companion to go off the deep end.

"Mary? What are you doing here?"

"Just happened to see you and figured I would stop by to say hello."

She smiled to the other man and pointed to Cody. When she needed to act a roll to do what needed to be done, she could pull it off easily enough.

"I'm just going to borrow him for a moment, okay?" she asked sweetly.

Without waiting for an answer she dragged Cody out of earshot and whirled on him furiously.

"You freaking moron! Which part of no more discussions in alleys didn't you understand? Seriously, you don't have any idea who you should stay away from."

"Mary, I…"

"No! I don't even want to hear it. We're leaving, now, so say goodbye."

Before either one of them could get a chance to move, Mary caught movement out of the corner of her left eye. Her eyes widened in startled shock at the sight of Cody's alleyway friend coming at them with a metal pipe.

"Shit!"

She reacted immediately to the threat to her witness. After taking a half step in front of Cody she threw her arm up to block the strike. Unfortunately Mary hadn't really thought that through. There hadn't been time. When the pipe impacted with her arm she nearly screamed. It felt like a bomb had exploded, and the pain instantly set fire to her forearm. Soon enough it was shooting all the way up to her shoulder.

"Son of a…"

Mary growled, ignoring the pain, and did what she did best. She caught her attacker's arm and spun him into an arm lock. Apparently Cody really had pissed him off. Arm still pounding, Mary held him tight and growled a warning into his ear. She could be pissed off too.

"You listen to me real close, asswipe. Cody and I are going to walk away and never see you again. You are going to walk away and forget this ever happened. If you don't forget then I don't forget, and trust me, you really don't want that."

He eyed Mary furiously, not intimidated in the least. Mary cocked an eyebrow and shifted a bit after she pulled her gun forward on her hip so it would come into full view. Backing up her threat was something easily done. It seemed to do the trick. Cody's friend disappeared down the alley, more determined to preserve his own life than make Cody's hell. Satisfied that he was gone, Mary whirled on her witness. Her eyes were lit with fury and quite a bit of pain, but Cody didn't need to know that last bit.

"What were you thinking, you rock headed imbecile? He would have killed you! As in dead. In the ground. Not breathing. Are you following my drift here?"

"I wouldn't have -"

"Are you hearing anything I'm saying?" she demanded as she threw her hands up in exasperation.

The motion was a very bad idea since it triggered the pain in her arm all over again. Her face must have gone pure white because Cody's face took on a look of concern. He stepped toward her and reached out.

"Are you okay, Mary?"

Mary growled and slapped his hand away. She didn't need his sympathy. This moron was the reason her arm hurt in the first place. Her head too. Idiots always gave her a headache.

"Shut up and let's go!"

She stormed off toward her car, not waiting to see if Cody was following. If he had any sense of self-preservation he would be. She reached the car and turned to find Cody where he had been still. At first she started to cross her arms in annoyance to send him a message that he better get his ass over here right now. Instantly she changed her mind and went with a hand on her hip so she could keep her left arm still. Cody got the drift and started trudging over. He was in for a very painful discussion when Mary got him back to the office.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Oh dear…" Marshall muttered when he saw Mary lead Cody out of the elevator.

She was a cyclone storming in and ready to destroy everything in her path. Marshall had no doubt she would do just that if he said anything to her at this point. Fury was rolling off of her in waves, and he'd learned long ago that talking to Mary when she was like this was asking to get killed. For now it was best to ride it out. Marshall watched as Mary led Cody into the conference room and left him there. When she came back out Marshall pointedly turned his gaze away. No point directing her ire toward him. He needed to play this delicately.

Mary dropped down in her chair and started rummaging through her desk drawers. She was so intent on finding whatever it was she was looking for that Marshall could watch her unnoticed. He didn't like what he saw either. Her face was blanched white and her eyes burned with frustration. If Marshall had to guess, he would say she was hurting pretty badly.

When Mary's frustration became more and more apparent, Marshall knew he needed to act. If this continued Mary could break which would hurt her even more. Without a word he grabbed a bottle of painkillers from his drawer and set them down on Mary's desk. She groaned in relief and snagged the bottle.

"Thank you, sweet Jesus."

Mary downed three pills and dropped her head down onto her desk. Marshall waited patiently. When Mary still didn't say anything he answered the question he knew she wanted to ask.

"I'll assist with Cody if you need back up in there."

Mary popped her head up looking truly grateful.

"I love you."

"I know. I'm guessing he didn't get the message the first time."

"Nope. Found him talking to some guy in an alley again. Guy tried to brain him. Real friendly like that."

"I see," Marshall replied dryly.

Mary grunted and pushed herself out of her chair to head toward the conference room. When she was halfway there she seemed to think better of it and returned to her desk. Marshall couldn't help grinning when he saw her put her gun safely in the drawer before heading to the conference room once more.

"Good girl. No shooting him."

"Keep it up and I'll shoot you."

Marshall was a bit surprised by the intense vehemence of the response, but he took it in stride. Mary must be hurting more than he'd figured. He made a mental not to ask what happened and subtly keep an eye on her once they were through with this issue. As Mary stormed toward Cody, Marshall picked up on the nervous look that crossed Cody's face when he saw her. Apparently he still may need to pull back on the reins a little, though Cody could probably use the shock of dealing with a furious Mary. She leaned over the table and got up in his face.

"You're going to answer my questions honestly and listen close or I swear to God, Cody…"

Mary trailed off, but the threat was clear. She was through with the crap. Cody nodded in understanding.

"Why did you go back there?"

"Just to tell him we couldn't talk anymore. That's it, Mary. I swear," Cody pleaded, his eyes darting between the two Marshals.

Mary growled and looked like she was about to lunge, so Marshall took control. He gently touched her shoulder before addressing Cody himself.

"What could have possibly possessed you to go back and tell him that? You would have made a better, smarter choice to simply leave him to his own devices."

"That sounded rather rude to me, and he seemed like a really nice guy. He deserved a farewell."

"He deserves a good kick where it hurts and some time in jail more likely," Mary snapped back peevishly. "And yeah, he was nice since he wanted to play you like a freaking banjo. Idiot!"

She slammed her hand down on the table to punctuate the last word. Cody flinched back away from her and turned to Marshall for support. Mary actually flinched as well thanks to the ricocheting pain through her left arm, but she managed to keep it small and controlled.

"Don't look at me. For once she isn't being overly dramatic," Marshall shrugged.

Mary threw her good hand up in relief, though Marshall could have left off the overly dramatic part.

"Thank you!" Then she turned to Cody, her expression stone hard. "Time to stop putting yourself in danger. You need to fly under the radar and stay alive. Since you can't seem to make those decisions on your own, you better start thinking about whether or not I'd approve of what you are doing and who you're hanging out with. That means no alleys, no bad parts of town, no places most people are avoiding. Got me?"

"Yeah, I'll be more careful, Mary."

"Damn well better be because next time I may not be around to save your ass."

And if she was she may very well save it just so she could be the one to destroy it later.

"Find yourself a safe group of friends to hang out with. Join a bowling league or a book club," Marshall suggested. "There are a lot of options out there that won't run the risk of getting you killed or imprisoned."

"I'll see what I can find." At the disbelieving look on Mary's face he added in a quick, "Really."

Mary just snorted at his reassurance. She'd heard it before more than once and it had always resulted in the exact same thing.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Now let's go."

Once Mary had escorted Cody out and sent him home she returned to her desk. Paperwork was the last thing she wanted to work on, but it needed to be done. Of course she wasn't thinking as clearly as she could be with her headache and the pounding in her arm. She lowered her head to her desk and stayed that way for a while. Marshall's eyes were on her, but she didn't really care. So far he was being smart and not saying anything. Hopefully he would stay that way. Explaining what had happened was not in her plans, and she really didn't want to fight him on that.

"You okay?"

Marshall knew her and realized instantly that she didn't want to discuss what had happened. Still, her behavior worried him. It wasn't unusual for Mary to drop her head onto her desk, but it was usually in frustration. Right now she just seemed tired. That combined with her frantic search for aspirin earlier had led him to ask the question even if it meant facing her ire.

Mary turned her head to face him with eyes that nearly withered him on the spot. Apparently even a safe question wasn't really safe. Marshall held up his hands in surrender.

"I know what you feel about Cody and today obviously didn't go well."

"I'm fine," she snapped.

Marshall lifted a skeptical eyebrow.

"Really, Marshall, I'm fine."

"Mare," Marshall began in exasperation before Mary cut him off sharply.

"Can it, Numbnuts, or I'm going to make you wish that you had."

Marshall gave her a slightly mocking nod of his head that said "as you wish" and returned to his desk. Mary being Mary he was going to have to keep an eye on her from a distance and make sure she didn't notice. Considering she was probably in more pain than she was letting on, Marshall didn't figure he would need to try very hard to keep his observations from her attention. She wouldn't be on the top of her game.

As the day wore on, Marshall continued to watch over his partner. She was quieter than usual, which wasn't a good sign. Plus, her face had a white-ish cast that made her look tired and even a little bit sick. For the most part she did her work attentively and wasn't showing much sign of being in pain even though he figured she was. It wasn't until a few hours later that he was proven correct.

As Mary reached out with her left hand to grab the correct forms, a wave of pain rolled through her. It felt like she'd just been hit with a pipe again, and she yelped.

"Son of a… ow. Stupid pipe."

Tears of pain blurred her eyes, and she tucked her arm close against her side to keep it still. Marshall's head had shot up when she'd first cried out, and he watched her intently. Being who he was, Marshall registered all of her actions and quickly realized that his partner hadn't shared everything that had happened when she'd found Cody with him. She'd gotten hurt somehow and it likely wasn't a small injury.

"What pipe?"

Mary's eyes snapped to his. She wanted to deny what she'd said, but one look in Marshall's eyes told her he wasn't going to let this go. One way or another he would get his answers. Mary sighed and decided to downplay what had happened. It wasn't really a big deal after all.

"Remember how I said Cody's friend tried to brain him? He used a pipe. I blocked it."

"You blocked it," Marshall repeated, sounding skeptical.

"Uh, yeah, Marshall, that's what I said. Are your ears not working today or something?"

Marshall just ignored her taunt and continued on unperturbed. He'd taken Mary's insults many times before.

"You blocked it with your arm?"

It wasn't really a question, more a statement of fact. Even so Mary rolled her eyes and snapped off a sarcastic retort.

"No, Doofus, I blocked it with my amazing mind powers."

Marshall sighed heavily and shook his head. He shouldn't have expected much else from her. She was in pain and therefore irritable. Or at least more so than she usually was.

"How bad does it hurt, Mare?"

"I'll be fine by tomorrow. Seriously, it's not a big deal. Now go back to work before I decide to throw something at you. Preferably something heavy."

Knowing better than to argue with her, Marshall held his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, but take it easy. The injury could be much more severe than you think."

"Marshall…"

It wasn't hard to read between the lines in that one word. He damn well better shut up now or else a stapler was heading for his face. In order to preserve his own life, Marshall returned to his desk and dropped the subject. For now.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

- - Current Day - -

When Marshall arrived at work the next morning Mary was already at her desk with a cup of coffee. Her color was a lot better than the day before, and he relaxed straightaway. It appeared that Mary's belief that her arm would be better in the morning was true. Not that Marshall wouldn't still keep an eye on her. Mary was quite capable of hiding what she was really feeling.

"Get your eyes off of me and get to work, Numbnuts."

Mary's snapping eyes met his for a moment. The smile that drifted across Marshall's face couldn't be helped, and he set his things down at his desk. Typical Mary. Of course she would spot him watching and call him out on it. Once he had visibly started to work, Mary turned her eyes away from him. She was thanking whatever gods actually existed and gave a shit that Marshall hadn't asked about her arm.

That morning getting dressed had been awful. She'd forgotten about her injury overnight, and it had bitten her in the ass. It had taken all of her willpower not to start cursing loudly when the pain had struck her again. After that she'd been exceedingly careful about how she moved her arm. So far she'd found that it was better to simply not move it at all. There was far less pain that way and it allowed her to be somewhat functional as well. If she played it right or found some way to get out of the office Marshall may not even know it still hurt.

"Mary."

Stan calling her name dragged Mary out of thoughts of this morning. Maybe she was going to get lucky again and be sent out to set up a new witness.

"What's up, Stan?"

"I need your incident report from yesterday and the paperwork for Lauren Castor."

Mary grimaced. She'd been avoiding doing both for a while simply because it was all boring and time consuming. Now wasn't the best time either since it wouldn't offer her much cover with Marshall.

"Plus, you need to set up the relocation plans with Denver WitSec. They're waiting, Mary, and this is on their time too."

"Ugh. Come on, Stan. Make Marshall do it. He's so much better at the whole working with other departments thing. It'll get done with a heck of a lot less pissed off people, myself included," Mary cajoled.

Stan had heard it all before and wasn't going to give in to her complaints even if they were true.

"Marshall has enough work to do, Mary, and besides, this is your witness. You'll get it done, soon, and you'll make sure to play nice with the Denver office. I don't want any phone calls later."

Mary made a face like she'd just eaten something disgusting but didn't argue anymore. Stan returned to his office, and Mary was left to start in on her paperwork. She glanced down at the first form for a moment before looking over at Marshall.

"How about a piece of pie? A big one. You get to pick what kind."

Marshall didn't even bother looking up. He knew what she was trying to do, and it was never going to work.

"No."

"Oh come on! It's one little witness transfer. That's totally equal to a piece of pie."

"No."

Mary scowled and tried again, upping the price a little.

"Okay, two pieces and I promise I won't even ask for a bite."

"You never ask. You just steal," Marshall answered as he continued working.

"Fine, I won't even steal a bite. Cross my heart and all that."

"Tempting, but still no. You're doing your own witness transfer."

She grimaced before trying one more thing.

"What about the paperwork instead?"

When she didn't even get a response from Marshall she sighed.

"That's a no go too, huh?"

Marshall reached over and placed the form he'd been working on in the finished pile before looking up at Mary and answering her.

"You do realize that if you hadn't spent all this time trying to bribe me into doing your work you could have been done with half of it."

"Meh, too much hassle."

0~0~0~0

The next few hours were spent productively. Mary had continued to work with only the usual amount of grumbling. Her constant grumbling had long ago become like the ticking of a clock to Marshall, something he hardly even noticed anymore. Whenever he was between sections of his paperwork or beginning a new task he would glance over at Mary, checking up on her. As he'd seen at times the day before, her left arm was tucked close to her side. Marshall rarely saw her move it, but that wasn't cause for major concern. There wasn't much need for her left arm considering she was right handed.

Still, there were a few moments when his concern was peaked again. Whenever she wanted a sip of coffee she would put down her pen before picking up her mug. Mary could certainly drink coffee with her left hand. In fact, Marshall was positive that Mary could drink coffee with her left foot if she was desperate enough. Common sense told him that she was probably just using the coffee as a way to take a short break from work. His partner was very talented at avoiding paperwork when she wanted to, which was almost always. Even so, his gut told him it was more than that so he continued watching when he could.

Mary finally finished off the last of her paperwork and set it aside to give to Stan later. The only thing she absolutely needed to do still was set up the transfer with Denver. That still sounded like it was going to suck though, and she was running out of stalling tactics. It took a moment of thought before an idea came to her, and she picked up her phone. The call went through quickly.

"Cody, it's Mary. Where are you?"

"_At home, then I'm going to work."_

So far so good. Cody seemed to be listening, and Mary nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. I'm just checking in. You haven't run into anybody new you wouldn't want me to know about, right?"

Cody sounded slightly exasperated when he replied.

"_I've never tried to hide anything from you, Mary."_

She snorted. Every witness had something to hide, something they held back. They always did.

"So nobody new? From somewhere you shouldn't be I mean."

"_No."_

"Good. Really good. Let's keep it that way."

"_Sure thing. By the way, how's your arm? Are you okay?"  
_

Mary grit her teeth and barely managed to hold back a growl.

"Hey, I'm the one that asks the questions here, and that, I assure you, is going to stay that way."

With that she hung up and glared at her cellphone before returning it to her hip. When she looked back up she caught her partner watching her, his face a mixture of amusement and mild disbelief.

"What?" she snapped, eyes glinting like ice.

"I just find it mildly amusing that you would rather talk to Cody than set up the transfer even though you know you're going to have to do it anyway."

"Someone needed to check on him," Mary countered.

"You're just stalling. Don't tell me that isn't true because I know it is."

Mary shot him a dark look before reaching for her phone, muttering the entire time. She tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder before swiveling her chair to turn the pages of a directory with her right hand. This Marshall noticed as well, and he frowned. Mary really was babying her arm. He turned back to his paperwork though his attention was hardly on work. Somehow he needed to figure out what to do about Mary. About fifteen minutes later Marshall's thoughts were interrupted by the end of Mary's phone conversation with Denver WitSec.

"That's your own problem you empty headed ass! Figure it out yourself!"

She slammed the phone down in its cradle with enough force to send shockwaves up her arm. Unfortunately that sent new pain flaring through her injury. If it hadn't been for her fury at the incompetents of Denver she would have winced more visibly.

"Mary…" Marshall sighed.

"What? They deserved it, and don't you dare tell me they didn't. You weren't the one who had to deal with those useless pieces of crap."

"It's called interdepartmental diplomacy. We are going to have to work with them again whether you like it or not."

"You're good at that whole sucking up to people and being polite thing. I'm not. That's why I wanted you to handle it, Numbnuts."

Marshall sighed again and shook his head.

"Don't come complaining to me when it comes back on you later."

A moment after he had to duck the wad of paper that came flying at his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It wasn't until well after lunch that Marshall had any other cause for concern over Mary. Over the course of the morning and lunch she'd gotten used to not using her left arm, and not moving it had eased the pain. Without intense throbbing to remind her of the injury she'd stopped trying to be so careful. In a moment of forgetfulness she'd reached for a binder with her left hand. The pain had immediately speared through her and she yelped. She was hurting so badly she didn't even realize she'd caught Marshall's attention.

"Damn it. Fucking shit. Ugh!"

Mary pulled her arm tight to her side and cradled it for a moment as she tried to bite back her pain.

"Mary."

She glanced over to find Marshall kneeling down beside her desk. It made her uneasy to realize she hadn't even seen him get up to come over.

"Jesus, Marshall, get that stupid worried look off your face. I'm fine."

"I realize that swearing is your native language, but usually you don't use that much in a row unless something is really wrong."

Instead of answering, Mary clamped her mouth shut and glared at Marshall. That wasn't unusual behavior for her either, so Marshall ignored the glare and reached for her arm. He gently moved it away from her body to rest it on her desk. Before she had a chance to argue with him he began to roll her shirt sleeve up so he could see. It wasn't as easy as he'd figured even though Mary wasn't fighting him. As gentle as he was being, Marshall could tell he was causing her intense discomfort. Her arm was swollen almost from her wrist to her elbow. A deep purple bruise graced the skin midway between the two joints. It fanned outward as well, becoming less severe as it did.

"Mary…" Marshall moaned.

"I put ice on it last night, but it really hasn't had enough time to get better yet."

"If I had known it was this bad I would have made you see someone yesterday."

While Mary didn't seem to think the injury was anything to worry about, Marshall knew better. With that much bruising and swelling he was afraid the pipe had done real damage to Mary's arm.

"Jeez Marshall, you worry too much," Mary grumbled as she reached over to pull her sleeve down again, wincing the entire time. His staring was starting to make her a little bit nervous.

Marshall let her do it, but he was nowhere near finished. He wouldn't be satisfied until a professional looked at her arm. Marshall stood and headed for his desk to grab his keys. Before he returned to Mary he stopped by Stan's office to poke his head in as he knocked.

"Hey Stan, I'm taking Mary out for a bit. We'll be back."

When Stan gave him an odd look Marshall tapped his arm. Stan knew about the injury thanks to Marshall and immediately understood the explanation.

"Ah. Let me know how it goes."

"Will do."

Marshall slipped out of Stan's office and headed back to Mary, preparing for a fight. She wasn't going to willingly go to a hospital, and he was debating whether he should just tell her they were going for pie. While she wouldn't argue that, she'd be incredibly pissed with him later. It wasn't the best method to use. However, there was another option.

"Mary," Marshall began, and then paused until she looked up at him. "I believe I would be correct to assume you don't think your arm is broken. Agreed?"

Mary rolled her eyes at him and rested her chin on an upturned hand.

"Of course, Doofus, and you can't possibly think that it is."

"I believe it's a possibility that I want checked. Since I doubt you will willingly allow me to take you to the hospital, I'm invoking the bet."

Her jaw dropped open and she stared at him. He was invoking the bet over something so small and stupid? Was he really serious? From the look on his face, he was.

"Winner sings the song?"

"Winner sings the song," he confirmed.

"Done. Let's go. Just get ready to listen to my lovely voice because I am so going to win this."

Mary got up and headed for the door, assuming Marshall would follow her out. He did and was smiling happily to himself in victory. Even if he technically lost the bet and had to listen to Mary sing, it was still a win in his book. He would know for sure if her arm was broken, and more importantly, she would get the care that she needed if it was. Marshall could rest easy then, or at least easier. There was no easy when it came to Mary.

0~0~0~0

"I can't believe you wouldn't let me drive. I drove to work on my own you know," Mary grumbled in annoyance as she and Marshall headed into the hospital.

"Thank you for humoring me," Marshall answered instead of arguing.

She snorted and shook her head at him. Once they'd reached the front desk Marshall took over. He quickly explained that they needed x-rays done on Mary's arm. Being law enforcement had its perks, and they didn't need to wait too long. Marshall hung back as Mary was taken in for x-rays. He wound up waiting far longer than he would have figured, which added more weight to his belief that Mary's arm wasn't just bruised.

"Inspector Mann?"

Marshall glanced up and spotted the doctor who had called his name. Standing, he made his way over.

"Inspector Shannon gave me permission to share her medical information with you. Hopefully you will have more luck getting her to obey my orders than I have."

Marshall tried to restrain his grin but failed. Of course Mary wouldn't listen. He'd be lucky if he could find some way to con her into doing what she was supposed to do.

"I will definitely attempt to. How serious is it?"

"She has a small fracture in her left ulna. The nurse is finishing her cast and getting her a list of proper care. I've already set up the follow up appointment with her. She'd going to need to take it easy for a while until the pain lessens, but even then she shouldn't be on full duty until I clear her."

Marshall nodded and immediately started working on ways to keep Mary off full duty. Most of them involved pushing the doctor's orders a little bit, but that would be okay. It was the lesser of two evils after all. Once the doctor had left, Marshall grabbed his phone and waited for Mary to join him.

A short time later Marshall heard the door click open followed by the sound of angry footsteps. He knew right away who it was and a quick glance over confirmed it. Mary was storming toward him, her arm casted and resting in a sling.

"Let's get out of here."

Her voice snapped and sizzled, but for all its bite it just rolled off Marshall.

"Of course, though I believe I've won."

Mary scowled at him before lashing out verbally. "It's a fracture! That's not the same."

"A fracture is a synonym for a break. That means it counts for our bet."

Instead of arguing, she just stormed past Marshall. He would follow behind. As Marshall trailed after Mary in the parking lot he began singing happily. Not only had he won, but Mary had been treated and hopefully was going to take it easy until she fully healed. It was a very good time for the song.

"I'm right; you're wrong. That is why I sing this song."

At the first few words Mary groaned and tried to hurry ahead since she couldn't cover her ears with only one hand. Marshall had no intention of letting her escape so easily though. He hurried after her, singing louder as he went.

"I'm right, you fool. I win, you drool."

Right before they reached the car Marshall caught up to her. He grinned at her as he pulled his door open, knowing he was about to taunt a wild animal that would likely try to lash out at him after. What was life without a little risk?

"So when do I get to sign the cast?"

Mary whirled around and thrust a finger out at her partner. She was in no mood for teasing.

"You get anywhere near me with a marker and you will find my knee hitting things you would probably rather it didn't."

Having expected that type of answer, Marshall simply chuckled and climbed into the car. They stopped to pick up extra painkillers for Mary on the way back to the office. As they rode up the elevator after they'd arrived Mary spotted Marshall watching her with a goofy smile on his face.

"What? Spill it before you choke on your unrestrained joy," Mary snapped, not even bothering to restrain her irritated sarcasm.

"Guess who's going to be stuck on desk duty until the cast comes off," he nearly sang.

"Careful there. I still have a good right hand which means I am still capable of shooting you or strangling you."

"Yeah, I didn't figure you'd be particularly pleased with that detail."

"I'm sure I can still find a way to convince Stan to actually let me work," she replied with a smirk as they left the elevator.

Mary swiped her card at the security door and walked into the office with Marshall following right behind her. They'd only made it a few feet in before Stan pushed his office door open and walked out. He rocked back on his heels once before speaking up.

"Mary, Mary. On a desk."

Mary's jaw dropped immediately. She'd only been there a minute, maybe two, and Stan was already telling her she was riding a desk? How did he figure out what had happened so quickly?

"What the hell, Stan?" she asked with eyes narrowed. "I'm good to go. I can do my job."

"You have a fractured arm, Mary. Until it's healed you're not out in the field. No arguments."

With that Stan turned and returned to his office, leaving Mary in shock. It took her a moment to even be able to respond. When she was able to, it was only to look at Marshall in stunned disbelief. Marshall simply grinned at her with a self-satisfied smile.

"I called him earlier."

"I hate you."

"No you don't. You wanted me to remind you of that next time you said it."

"I was apparently out of my mind because I really, really hate you."

"I know you do," Marshall answered as if she'd answered in a more positive manner. He knew she didn't really hate him, so he never took her words seriously.

Mary dropped down at her desk with a huff and rested her forehead onto it. This was going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, there you go! Another one done. For those of you IPS people only, I do have another possible story idea, but it'll be awhile if it ever gets done at all. For the rest of you, the nightmare man sequel is in the works already, but it could be awhile before it gets posted. Ideas on that are welcome!


End file.
